Having A Great Time With Gretzky Finding His Scoring Form, Rangers See Their Prospects Improve
With Wayne Gretzky moving to the top of the NHL scoring list and Mike Richter moving around better in goal, the New York Rangers are moving up in the standings.
“We find ourselves only eight (points) out of first in the league after a shaky start,” Rangers captain Mark Messier said. “We’re feeling pretty good about ourselves.”
With a 5-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers on Monday night, the Rangers extended their best stretch of the season to 8-1-1 and exceeded the .500 mark for the first time at 15-14-5.
It may not seem like much, but it is for a team with high expectations that started the season 0-3-2 and didn’t pass the break-even mark until the 34th game.
Gretzky was in top form against Hartford with a goal and assist, giving him 14 goals and 31 assists for a league-leading 45 points. He has scored in 28 of his 34 games and earlier this season had a league-high streak of 15 consecutive games in which he scored at least one point. He is working on a nine-game streak.
Gretzky could become the first Ranger to win the scoring title since Bryan Hextall in the 1941-42 season with 56 points. Gretzky is likely to top that figure before much longer.
“If I’ve done anything differently, I’m shooting the puck in opportunities where I would have passed before,” said Gretzky, whose five shots Monday night gave him a team-leading 133. “It’s opening up the ice for me and consequently when I can’t make the shot, guys are open now.”
Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time scoring leader and four-time Stanley Cup champion, scored a career-low 23 goals last season while dividing his time between the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues.
On Monday night, he set up at least a half-dozen glorious scoring chances, but his linemates failed to finish.
Along with Gretzky, the Rangers were again in good hands with Richter. He continued his impressive play with 39 saves to extend his unbeaten streak to eight (7-0-1).
Richter got off to a slow start following his MVP performance in the preseason World Cup of Hockey Tournament. He was 6-9-1 before his current streak.
“We’re definitely playing much better as a team,” said Messier after the Rangers improved to 35 points to move within eight of the league-leading Florida Panthers. “It is a total team effort - from the goaltender on out.”
The Rangers have the league’s top power play and top goal total with 117. But it is the team defense that has inspired confidence. The Rangers have outscored the opposition 41-20 in their last 10 games.
“We’re playing defense much better,” Messier said.
Gretzky, for one, is in a better frame of mind after games these days.
“When you’re losing it’s always difficult,” he said. “We lost a lot of tough 2-1 and 3-2 games.
“We really believed that all the things we were doing were positive, that we were going in the right direction. I think it’s an indication over our last 10 games that we did stick with it. We believed in ourselves, and now we’ve gotten stronger and stronger.”
xxxx OF NOTE Wayne Gretzky could become the first Ranger to win the scoring title since Bryan Hextall in the 1941-42 season.